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Posted on October 6, 2024 at 8:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Here are the literary birthdays to celebrate over the week of October 6, 2024.
Anita Shreve (October 7, 1946): Shreve wrote over fifteen novels; two of her best-known are The Pilot’s Wife and The Weight of the Water (a finalist for the Orange Prize).
R.L. Stine (October 8, 1943): Stine is best-known for his Fear Street and Goosebumps series, though he's written many other spooky books — and sold over 400 million copies of them.
Belva Plain (October 9, 1919): Plain began writing novels — twenty-one of which landed on the New York Times bestseller list — at the age of sixty to counteract Jewish stereotypes, including strong, well-rounded characters in such books as Evergreen and Crescent City.
James Clavell (October 10, 1925): Clavell’s first novel, King Rat, was based on his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese during World War II, and his later novel Shogun was a hit both on the page and the screen as one of the most popular miniseries ever made.
Harold Pinter (October 10, 1930): Pinter’s complex, challenging plays including The Homecoming, The Dumb Waiter, and The Birthday Party led him to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Nora Roberts (October 10, 1950): Roberts is among the most prolific and beloved romance writers of her era, earning her the privilege of being the first inductee of the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame; she also writes romance-crime as J.D. Robb.
Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925): Leonard began his career writing westerns, several of which inspired movies, but hit his popular and critical stride with crime novels like Get Shorty, Out of Sight, and several others that also hit the big screen.
Categories: Today in Books